The last time the Canucks lost 4-0 and were shut out by a seemingly unbeatable Eastern Conference goaltender wearing number thirty, the city skyline was on fire within minutes. That in mind, Tuesday night could have gone a whole lot worse.

Of course, it also could have gone a whole lot better, say, if the Canucks hadn’t completely fallen apart in the third period. Or, say, if the Canucks could have capitalized on one of the seven consecutive powerplays they were gifted by an undisciplined Rangers team. Ideally, Vancouver could have headed into the third with a lead rather than being locked in a scoreless draw, especially since they outshot New York 28-9 through two. Heck, had they managed to put any one of their forty shots on goal past Henrik Lundqvist, this would be a much more joyous recap.

Unfortunately, the Canucks did none of these things, and as a result, they lost this game. Also unfortunately, I watched this game.

Henrik Lundqvist was fantastic, stopping forty shots for the shutout and frustrating the Canucks into a full-scale third-period collapse. It didn’t matter where Vancouver shot from: he swallowed everything, like an unsupervised toddler.

That accounts for the lack of scoring from the Canucks, but how about the Rangers’ offensive outburst? That’s on the Vancouver defense, which looked confused and downright disorganized in the third, as blueliners pinched at inopportune times and forwards blew coverage assignments in the defensive zone. It’s pretty tough to blame a goaltender for goals against when the five guys in front of him forget to defend.

Of course, tough does not equal impossible, and if any fanbase could find a way, it would be this one. After allowing three goals, Roberto Luongo played a routine puck at the side of his net and was greeted with a bronx cheer by the Rogers Arena crowd behind him. Seriously? Just how good does a scoring chance have to be for Luongo to avoid blame? This is getting ridiculous. The puck could be beamed into the net by the Enterprise transporter and Canuck fans would blame Luongo for failing to activate a transport inhibitor.

Still, I can understand some of the frustration, especially after the Rangers’ first goal. While Henrik Lundqvist was gobbling up every shot, Luongo kicked out a juicy rebound off a Michael Del Zotto wrister, putting the puck right on Mike Rupp’s stick. At its most basic level, that’s a frustrating contrast. But, before you blame Luongo, consider that Rupp’s stick is unchecked because Alex Edler, who should be all over him, has to cover Del Zotto instead. Del Zotto, the trailer, would normally be Lapierre’s man, but Lapierre had to turn and chase Kris Newbury. And Newbury is streaking to the net all by his lonesome because Dan Hamhuis gets beaten entering the zone at a crawl. If Edler’s on Rupp, this puck squirts out to the wall, the Canucks take it back the other way, and the only thing we’re talking about is how Luongo saw through Edler’s screen to make the original spiffy pad save. This one’s not his fault.

How about the second goal, which comes after Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows blow the zone, hoping Henrik Sedin will spring them for a 2-on-1 pass? The puck never crosses the blueline. Instead, the Rangers force a turnover, and turn back the other way on what effectively becomes a 3-on-1 down low after Alex Edler gets caught napping. Luongo has no chance on Ryan McDonagh’s shot, which comes on a one-timer in the dead centre of the zone.

Pretty tough to fault Luongo on the Rangers’ third goal too, when Kevin Bieksa makes an obscenely ill-advised pinch, allowing the Rangers to turn back the other way on yet another 3-on-1. Ruslan Fedotenko’s cross-ice pass to Brian Boyle is perfectly placed, as is the top corner of the net, which sits right where Boyle’s shot goes.

And if you think that Luongo making a save at 3-0 was going to make a difference, you’re crazy, but let’s take a look at the Rangers’ fourth goal as well. First, Ryan McDonagh completely undresses Cody Hodgson, who gets caught about as flat-footed as an ancient dwarf. Then, Dan Hamhuis loses a battle with Marion Gaborik like the Vancouver Realtor that almost sold him that house. It’s a 2-on-0, and McDonagh takes Luongo completely out of position before feeding the puck to Gaborik for the tap-in.

That’s four goals, each the result of egregiously blown defensive assignments, and the goalie is at fault? Asinine. You’re going to hear about how, regardless of whether Luongo was to blame or not, it’s clear that the city of Vancouver’s relationship with him has become toxic. It’s hogwash. If we can’t reasonably determine who to blame tonight, we aren’t smart enough to avoid running the next goalie out of town either. If I’m Cory Schneider, the starting job in Vancouver is a do not want scenario.

The worst defensive pairing on the evening? Dan Hamhuis and Alex Edler. That did not work at all, as both men finished a minus-3, or, if you really want to gasp, a combined minus-6. Gasp!

Let’s move on to happy things. After screening Roberto Luongo on the Michael Del Zotto shot that led to the Rangers’ first goal, Alex Edler tried to make amends all on his own, taking the puck end-to-end, then right at Del Zotto, undressing him beautifully before being stopped by Henrik Lundqvist. I’ve never seen Alex Edler’s dangly side before, but I like it.

Hmm. That’s a gross sentence. Forget I said it.

By the end of the game, it was a negative, but the fact that the Canucks’ second powerplay unit looked more effective than the first at times on Tuesday night was originally a promising sign. Not to be confused with a signed promise.

Kevin Bieksa had another rough game tonight, making a handful of poor pinches, including one that led to the Rangers’ third goal. He’s crucial to this team, and right now, he’s playing frustratingly mediocre hockey. He knows it too, because he chose to take out that frustration on Brandon Dubinsky. Someone should tell Bieksa that, in Vancouver, there are easier ways light up a Duby in order to relieve stress.

Apart from drawing a penalty in the third period, Jannik Hansen was again invisible tonight. I’m not asking for the guy to score a million billion goals (especially since nine is far more likely), but even a hit would be nice. We used to call Hansen the Danish ninja but, considering how hard he appears to be working to avoid meaningful contact, he’s more hermit than ninja these days.

Oh how I hate when the TSN feed cuts out and they have to use the road team’s feed instead. The lighting is different and the announcers are biased in the wrong direction. It’s strange. I’m used to everyone sticking up for Alex Burrows, but the MSG crew didn’t seem to like him at all. Wait. Is Alex Burrows unpopular?

I sincerely hope that Cody Hodgson’s massive defensive blunder doesn’t get him removed from Ryan Kesler’s wing, because I thought those two looked pretty good together. Granted, there wasn’t much Kesler did tonight that I didn’t like, save maybe play harder than everyone else, and I came around on that pretty quickly. At first, I balked, because I had hoped he might ease himself into the lineup somewhat, but eventually I realized that Kesler doesn’t ease himself into anything. This guy does cannonballs into hot tubs.

And finally, in addition to the 40 shots on goal, the Canucks had another 23 shots blocked. Do you see how the defensive effort of a team tends to be reflected in the goaltender’s performance?

48 comments

invisibleairwaves

October 19, 2011

I had to miss the third period of the game. Imagine my surprise when I got home and saw the score. It would be great to see a consistently decent game from the Canucks for once this season, instead of this thing they do where they choose a period at random and decide to be absolutely terrible for most of it.

Also, Anthony Stewart scored a goal against the Bruins tonight. I’m not sure how to feel about that.

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invisibleairwaves

October 19, 2011

Oh, and the Bronx cheer only reinforces my opinion that Luongo is the goaltender Vancouver needs, not the one it deserves.

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Tom 1040

October 19, 2011

Well, at least his stats are better than they were in Boston.

(What’s your vote post on this Daniel W?)

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tom selleck's moustache

October 19, 2011

“Oh, and the Bronx cheer only reinforces my opinion that Luongo is the goaltender Vancouver needs, not the one it deserves.”

Agreed. The vitriol that’s needlessly directed at Loungo at times makes it pretty apparent that some fans here have a pretty short memory and forget what it was like not having an elite goalie on our team.

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The Bookie

October 19, 2011

heh. 0-0 after 2 and I get a text from a friend, he’s at the movie theater downtown with a bottle of vodka in his jacket and his friend just bailed on The Thing. Free ticket and all. Running down Robson I saw a lot of jersey-clad mimes and thought ‘Right Choice!’

I mean, there’s no way they’d ever be able to remake a classic to those standards, but it still sounds like it trumped the 3rd period.

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Zen Wu

October 19, 2011

“Someone should tell Bieksa that, in Vancouver, there are easier ways light up a Duby in order to relieve stress.” Funny… esp liked the parenthetical commas.

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Nlee

October 19, 2011

“Kesler doesn’t ease himself into anything. This guy does cannonballs into hot tubs.”
Hehe.

Meanwhile, does this fanbase have more than it’s fair share of idiots or something? They can’t pick up that the issue was that these goals were the result of defensive lapses, and that the forwards couldn’t score. Takes me right back to the finals….forwards couldn’t score, and yet Luongo lost us the series. Right…….

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Chinstrap Joe

October 19, 2011

I guess the frustrating thing is that when the Rangers were blowing coverage and taking penalties all night, Lundqvist was bailing them out in every way possible and some that weren’t possible. It seemed that every time the Canucks blew their defensive assignments, it was in the back of our net. Simple comparison really…

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A

October 19, 2011

It is a simple comparison – Lundqvist had goal support; Luongo didn’t.

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peanutflower

October 19, 2011

Well, there is that, yes.

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Dawn Duck / Jenny Wren

October 19, 2011

Pregame:

The Rangers have not won a game
Lack of discipline is to blame
Sounds familiar to this fan
E.g. Samuelson Skeeter Dan
Too often he is penalized
At real bad times I’ve realized
Another stat called SFP
Should now be kept it seems to me

It’s sad I cannot watch this game
My Math tutoring is to blame
I’ll read Mooney in the morning
No bad jokes I trust adorning
His pert perceptions of our win
Unless Lu lets too many in

Dawn Duck

Postgame

A glaring fact one can’t ignore
Canucks with power plays galore
Did shoot and shoot but could not score
As Henrik Lundquist shut the door

They’d forty shots not one went in
Canucks were fine but did not win

What should have been a Nucks’ shutout
Became a New York Rangers’ rout
Sometimes that’s the way things go
We watch because you never know

Jenny Wren

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Mike

October 19, 2011

As the other paper noted, the Bronx Cheer wasn’t just about the goals he let in tonight. It wasn’t just about his sluggish start to the season. It was about last season’s cup final, where he was blown out in every loss. It was about almost blowing a 3 – 0 lead to Chicago after 2 previous meltdowns against them. It was about years of watching him transform from the unreal, intuitive battler that was an MVP candidate in his first season here to the belly flopping, robotic, mentally fragile technique slave we see today. It was about having to listen to our goalie complain that his opponent hadn’t said one nice thing about him while Tim Thomas battled like a caged animal. It’s about the fact that the guy who was once the entire team is now the biggest question mark when all the chips are down.

We used to expect Luongo to steal every game. Now we pray that he doesn’t lose it for us. We used to go into every game confident that Luongo would give the team a chance to win. Now we’re nervous every time the other team crosses our blueline. A lot of media outlets, including this most fantastic blog that I love and usually agree with, like to point out how harsh the Van fans are on Lu. While he does have an intense spotlight on him, I don’t think the fans have been unfair. How many post-season collapses must we be subjected to? How many bizarre blowouts? After three years of flameouts, we’re starting to get fed up.

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Daniel Wagner

October 19, 2011

This would be valid if Luongo hadn’t posted two shutouts in the Stanley Cup Final and received no goal support whatsoever. My issue with the Bronx cheer he received is that it is based on the assumptions you listed, such as the misinterpretation of his comments about Tim Thomas.

All I’m asking is that you ask yourself what you’re getting fed up with. You’re saying that it’s a cumulative thing, that all these collapses, blowouts, and flameouts over the years have added up to the point that fans just can’t take any more. I want you to think critically about each of those collapses. Which of those things can actually be pinned on Luongo and which have you just been convinced are Luongo’s fault by other sources?

Sorry, I just don’t buy that the Bronx cheer can be disconnected from his play last night, which is evidence that a lot of Canucks fans have no grasp on reality. The blown defensive coverage in this game was absurd and the criticism should have been aimed at the defensive coverage, not Luongo. Instead, this fanbase that claims to be so knowledgeable about hockey embarrassed itself by blaming Luongo.

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Mike

October 20, 2011

First, let me say that I wasn’t at the game, and I don’t condone the jeering of our franchise goaltender. It doesn’t help, and he didn’t deserve it based on his performance in that game. However, if you don’t believe that the Bronx Cheer was about much more than his play last night, ask yourself this: if that NYR game had happened in October of 2009, would Lu have been heckled?

I don’t believe it’s fair to blame Luongo for everything, but I also think it’s wrong to let him off the hook completely. Yes he got two shutouts against Boston. But that doesn’t absolve him for getting blown out in every finals loss. You dismiss criticism of his Thomas comments as being the result misinterpretation. I agree that his “I would’ve made that save” comment was grossly misrepresented by the media. But there is no excuse for his tire-pumping, he-hasn’t-said-one-nice-thing comments. Those weren’t misinterpreted. They were actually that bad.

As for this fanbase embarrassing itself by blaming Luongo, it’s not just Canuck fans. I live in on the East Coast, so most of my friends cheer for other teams (Habs, Leafs, Oil, Bruins). At worst, their criticism of his abilities is downright hateful. At best, they think he is a choker. With every passing season, it is getting harder and harder to defend him.

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Daniel Wagner

October 20, 2011

First of all, Luongo never said anything about tire pumping. That was Thomas’s reaction. And it’s important to keep in mind what Luongo was responding to, which is why I think his comments were horribly misinterpreted. He was responding to a question about supposedly trashtalking Thomas with his “I would’ve made that save” comment and was trying to set the record straight. So he clarified that he wasn’t insulting Thomas and was just trying to talk about the difference in their two styles. He then joked (and that’s the key there) that it’s not like Thomas was going out of his way to say nice things about him, so why does it matter. He was saying that because he was trying to point out how absurd it was that everyone was getting worked up about a comment he made when the two teams were facing each other in a Stanley Cup Final: why should either team have anything nice to say about the other?

Instead, his comments were taken as trying to illicit praise from Thomas, which is how the question was phrased to Thomas later on, which is where the whole tire-pumping comments began. So yes, those comments were also misinterpreted.

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Mike

October 20, 2011

“I’ve been pumping his tires ever since the series started and I haven’t heard one nice thing he had to say about me, so that’s the way it is.”

It didn’t seem like he was joking. In any event, the finals comments aren’t what’s at issue. I think history shows that fans will accept all kinds of behavior from their goalies as long as they can be relied upon when it counts. I still believe that Luongo can deliver, but I find I’m in the minority.

Let me ask you this. If you could select a team of NHLers to play in a one game, winner-take-all match up against evil hockey playing space aliens and the fate of the world was to be decided by this game, would you choose Luongo? Would he even be in your top 5?

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Daniel Wagner

October 20, 2011

He’d definitely be in my top-5 if we’re talking about current NHLers. I’d have Pekka Rinne, Tim Thomas, and Henrik Lundqvist in there as well, then round out the top-5 with Ryan Miller, though you could argue for Carey Price, Cam Ward, Jonas Hiller or Marc-Andre Fleury to fill that fifth spot.

Ack, I misremember the quote and that Luongo did say “pumping his tires.” My apologies. I think my point still stands because you’re taking the quote out of the context of the questions he was being asked and his tone of voice, etc. He was being bombarded constantly with questions about his supposed criticising of Thomas and he was making the point that he had been praising him all series, while Thomas had not done the same, so why was he receiving all of these questions. He wasn’t suggesting that Thomas should praise him, just that he didn’t understand the media’s reaction to what he thought was an innocent comment.

We’ve talked about this in regards to Luongo on PITB before: he’s just not very good with the media. His sense of humour gets easily misinterpreted (he has a bit of gallows humour at times: witness his comments today about his new goalie mask being 2 weeks late just like his play) and he’s often too honest for his own good. It’s one of the reasons him being captain just didn’t work.

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Chinstrap Joe

October 19, 2011

I agree with Mike and would add that Luongo always plays well when he has puck support. Well….I could play well when there is puck support and I’m a pot-bellied, dim witted, has-been. It seems rare that he steals games when the team in front if him has taken the night off and you see other goalies doing it in the league – often against us. I have been a fan of his since he arrived but his lustre is starting to fade as I am starting to see him as a skilled goalie with a fragile psyche.

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Dave

October 19, 2011

The end of that game was just UGH.

I know it’s practically the pre-season for the core, but I’m really getting frustrated watching the team (not that it will stop me).

I’ll admit that I didn’t like seeing those goals get past Luongo – but what had me most frustrated was the inability of anyone on the team to score – especially with all that PP time. I don’t care how many defensive lapses there are, or how many goals Luongo and Schneider let in – the fact remains that you cannot win without scoring goals.

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Julia

October 19, 2011

“the fact remains that you cannot win without scoring goals.”

Thank you.

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gog

October 19, 2011

As a Rangers fan, I almost feel sorry for you in this game. Lundqvist carries the Rangers on his shoulders, and occasionally he simply insane instead of just awesome. The offense and the defense ain’t exactly top class for the moment, but we got a top 3 goalie that bails us out most of the time.

Though I still think Vancouver will end up getting further into the play-offs than the Rangers (unfortunately for the Rangers), especially if Staal’s injury keeps him out too long.

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Wagman

October 19, 2011

There was only a small number of hecklers at Rogers Arena last night – the majority of the fans had either already bailed out (the third goal cleared half the fans) and many were commenting on how lame it was that fans were giving Luongo such a hard time. The Rangers’ goals were pretty nice goals, and the majority of the Canucks’ shots were low probability: no screens, from the outside, soft wrist shots to the chest – it looked like goalie warm up. There were maybe a half dozen decent chances that bounced (literally) the wrong way. I actually thought the Canucks third line had a good game; Alberts and Salo both had good games, too. I would attribute several of the defensive mistakes to the changes in defensive pairings.

That said, the whole night started pretty emotional with Rick Rypien’s family in attendance and the tribute video. I know they are professionals, but it must have been tough for the Canucks’ players to keep their minds on task. It seemed to me that many of the players were just holding their stick too tightly and fighting the puck.

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Sandlak

October 20, 2011

I feel sorry for Rangers fans having to watch that imitation of the 2003 Minnesota Wild, complete with Marian Gaborik. The Rangers are deathly boring, continually collapsing around their all-star goalie. At least their coach and his pal Brooksie provide some audio entertainment once in a while.

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CanuckFanInSF

October 19, 2011

I just got NHL Game Center Live to catch Ryan Kesler’s first game. Good game for a guy who just had hip surgery last July. That being said, Game Center Live crashed on me on the beginning of the third period and when it continued, the Rangers were up 2-0. My knee-jerk reaction was to blame Lu and his tendency to let in a soft first goal, but watching the replays, the D-men were nowhere in sight. I mean, they were there, but they looked so lost. AV’s venture into the Defensive pairing lottery did not pay off in this game.

Canuck fans/media need to cut Luongo some slack. It’s only October and we’re barely starting the season. The fans need to rally behind him and in return, Luongo needs to keep his emotions – and mouth – in check (seriously, the ‘tire pumping’ comment still makes me cringe to this very day). Let his performance on the ice speak for itself.

Looking forward to watching the Nashville game!

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jer

October 19, 2011

“Just how good does a scoring chance have to be for Luongo to avoid blame?”

Or…

Just how much of a goal differential do the Canucks need to lose by in a game where they outplay their opposition before PITB admits we might have a headcase in goal?

Nah, I’m messin. But it does get harder to be a Lou defender every year. Most of the league sees him as unreliable at best, and lacking mental strength in general, and I think Canuck fans are right to acknowledge it.

Whenever the Canuck fan base is pointed to as goalie-eaters, I point out that Kirk McLean was a frigging god in this city, and despite his vezina nomination in 92, was never more than an average to good tender. (You can go back even further to Brodeur, Suitcase, etc… lots of average goalies that this city idolized.) I just don’t buy the ‘graveyard’ narrative.

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Harrison Mooney

October 19, 2011

A lot of it has to do with expectations. People knew McLean was an average goaltender, so when he rose above that, it was a sweet surprise. Luongo is expected to stand on his head every night because he’s widely considered one of the league’s best. So when he gets beaten on shots that normally beat goalies, people blame him.

Lundqvist wouldn’t have stopped any one of the four shots Luongo let in last night, but because the Rangers were more committed to protecting him and keeping shots to the outside, he didn’t have to.

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critically canuck

October 19, 2011

Lundqvist wouldn’t have stopped any of those shots? Wow, nice crystal ball. It’s got Roberto Luongo apologist written all over it.

True enough, Lundqvist stole last night’s game far more than Luongo gave it away. And it’s difficult to be on your game after facing only 9 shots in two periods. But Luongo’s poor October play is only rivalled by his playoff unpredictability. People are getting tired of both it seems…

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Harrison Mooney

October 19, 2011

Yeah, you’re right, that’s poorly worded. I should have said I don’t think Lundqvist is stopping those shots.

I’m not a Roberto Luongo apologist by any means. If he plays badly, I’ll say it. But the fact that we’re talking about Luongo today and not the Canucks’ total defensive collapse is absurd.

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critically canuck

October 19, 2011

Well, he did play poorly yesterday. He admitted so. I’m not sure you did. Did that result in the loss? Not directly. Lundqvist stole the game. And the Canucks, particularly after the first goal, hung Roberto out ot dry. That we can agree on.

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Tom 1040

October 20, 2011

Still think critically canuck says it best – always.

please continue blogging.

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Daniel Wagner

October 19, 2011

When everyone else is absurdly blaming Luongo for a loss that shouldn’t be pinned on him, then we have to be Luongo apologists. What’s wrong with being an apologist? Do you disagree with the assessment in the IWTG of the awful, awful defensive coverage that led to the goals? Are you interested in actually making an argument or do you just want to take the easy way out and follow the bouncing narrative: the Canucks lost, so it must be Luongo’s fault. It’s boring and it’s brain dead.

The goals that the Rangers scored would not have been stopped by Lundqvist. That’s not a matter of looking in a crystal ball, it’s a matter of looking at the goals and realizing that no goaltender in the NHL would have made those stops.

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critically canuck

October 19, 2011

No one can objectively say that Lundqvist would have stopped those shots. That’s a matter of opinion only.

He stopped all the ones he had to. And there were plenty. Yes, he was the story of the game. And not Luongo.

BUT, with Luongo’s play last night (admittedly, not his best) snowballed onto his poor start and playoff flameout, then he is still rightfully a matter of discussion.

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Harrison Mooney

October 19, 2011

Of course Luongo ‘admitted’ he played poorly. If he had said he thought he played just fine (which is true), can you imagine how much more outrage there would be today?

And while no one can objectively that Lundqvist would have stopped those shots, would you have blamed him for any of them if the Canucks had scored on identical plays? Of course not. Only Luongo gets taken to task for every shot that gets past him, regardless of whether or not it was stoppable.

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critically canuck

October 19, 2011

I think you’re overstating things when you say he’s taken to task for every goal. His play this season and in the final two playoff games has been on balance (forget goal by goal) poor. That’s not really contentious.

Is it worthy of a hometown raspberry? Probably not given his overall body of work. But the vocal minority was at work last night.

Is it worthy of reconsidering his workload given the potential of the goalie waiting in the wings? That’s really where this discussion should be headed.

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BECanucks

October 19, 2011

In a sense, it seems fitting that *WE* (’cause, we’re all Canucks, eh) got got shut out on Ryp’ night, sometimes even when you battle hard, you end up losing. That’s OK. We should learn to live with failure if we want to lessen the burden on everybody mental health.
I mean, do we really find it strange that Bieksa has a rough beginning of a season??? The guy lost somebody he considers a brother just 3 month ago. I know when we lost a colleague of whom I was really NOT close to, it took me more than half a year to stop thinking about it, so I don’t dare to imagine the pain of the Bieksa family.

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cambo

October 19, 2011

hey harrison, me thinks the goalie on the bench should start all games at home. The flake between the pipes has lot what ever “it” he had. What a laugh.

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peanutflower

October 19, 2011

Cambo, are you sure you’re not a Vancouver Sun columnist in disguise? I can’t even respond to your vituperative comments because I get censored for using your name. How is that possible?

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Tom 1040

October 20, 2011

I agree with cambo even though he has called me a goof for being a Canucks’ fan.

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Rituro

October 19, 2011

So can we call that our “Voldemort game” for this season and move on?

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BECanucks

October 19, 2011

Not yet, I’m scared to admit…

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No

October 19, 2011

Tough game last night. The only solace I take from a Canucks loss these days is that the idiots that think Luongo is the problem seem to get more upset than the people living in the real world.
There is such a negative culture in this city that infects those not willing or able to think for themselves. A few people in the media question Luongo, and like a freaking zombie apocolypse (which many people are acting as if our start is comparable to), people become brainless husks crying about Luongo instead of brains.
We lost to Boston mainly because we couldn’t get/score on power plays, which was a function of a lot of injuries to our #1 unit and Boston and their goalie being pretty great. We lost last night because we couldn’t score. Why is this such a hard concept for people to understand?

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Cathylu

October 19, 2011

Thanks for that IWTG. At least I had a few laughs while reading about a pretty awful game.

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Courtney

October 19, 2011

I can’t wait for Luongo to finish with his usual spectacular save percentage and refer back to how many people threw him under this bus after this game. And to think that it’s only six games in…

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Ryan

October 19, 2011

Luongo hasn’t been horrible, but when the Canucks need him to bail them out with a big save, it doesn’t happen. He’s been playing at an acceptable level for a mediocre goalie, but a supposedly giften goalie like him has to bail his team out occasionally. He stops that first one and the Canucks get a huge boost.

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SteveB

October 19, 2011

Anyone need some pools flipped over?

I just spent the afternoon wading through the hive of scum and villainy that is the CDC and need to work off some frustration.

Thank you for providing a sane and well-balanced counterpoint to the howling mob.

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peanutflower

October 19, 2011

no kidding. And sadly, some of the riff raff who post brainless comments on the Sun and Province comment sections have found there way over to PITB. I was hopeful it would remain our little secret and we wouldn’t have to tolerate their drivel. Thank god comments get auto hidden!

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Lynsey

October 20, 2011

Sorry I’m so late to comment. Just wanted to tell you I wholeheartedly agree with EVERY point you made! You also highlighted what I saw as some terrible defense by Hodgson. He looked like a pylon just standing still and got abused by Ryan McDonagh.

Thanks for a great post.

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Sandlak

October 20, 2011

Getting upset about your goaltender when you get shut out is kind of silly. Of course, this is the same fanbase who chants “Loo” when he stops floaters from the blue line, which is equally ridiculous.

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